Any country that repeatedly calls upon its armed forces to take care of active security threats finds itself having to concede resources, honours and space to the uniform brass. The state of civilian-military relationship in India is getting marked by an increased testiness; particularly elusive remains a satisfactory protocol of equivalence between the serving military officers and the civilians working in the Ministry of Defence. In October 2016, an order was passed and it was intended to address the perceived anomalies in the rank-parity; instead, it ended up aggravating matters.

The military brass felt offended. The disciplined force members flagged their objections at the administration level, while their ex-fauji comrades took to the social media, even invoking an affront to izzat. Last week, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ordered the withdrawal of the October 2016 order. The minister’s belated action, in effect, calls for a truce in the Armed Forces Headquarters (AFHQ). Created about 50 years ago, the AFHQ was to provide continuity in the functioning of the Integrated Headquarters, Defence Staff Headquarters and the Inter-Service Organisation under the Ministry of Defence.

The restoration of status quo ante will not resolve the crux of the grievance. The civilian and the military officers work in close proximity on a daily basis. Familiarity does not always produce admiration and mutual respect.The armed officers remain a part of a disciplined, and hierarchical organisation, and they are not unaffected by the increasing sense of impatience among the military officers towards the civilian and bureaucratic leadership.  All bureaucracies in India — civilian or military, federal or state — have issues of promotions, pay, perks, parity; each pay commission becomes an occasion for another round of bad blood between the civilian and uniformed bureaucracies.  In the last decade, as the political leadership has come to depend for its success on the competence, dedication and professionalism of the armed forces, there is an all too discernible angst among the soldiers’ fraternity. Political opportunism has also encouraged the glorification of the soldier.Yet, it would be worth our while to keep in mind that we still have in place something called the Constitution of India.

Citing a CAG report, postal department says that unlike private couriers, Speed Post is legally bound by the provision of Post Office Act to provide best service.

New Delhi: Citing a report by the central auditor, the postal department has made a strong pitch to the defence ministry to do away with using private courier companies, insisting that its ‘Speed Post’ facility makes “good business sense”.

The unusual letter comes weeks after the government decided to do away with Army Postal Units in peace locations as part of a larger plan to cut non-operational flab in the military. And the communiqué by A.N. Nanda, secretary of the department of posts, cites the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) as a reference point

“In a test check conducted by the CAG in order to compare the performance/quality of Speed Post service of department of posts with private courier agencies for delivery of mails, it was found that the delivery through Speed Post is better than private courier,” says the letter, referring to an audit report.

In the letter to defence secretary Sanjay Mitra, the postal department has mentioned that unlike private couriers, the government postal system is “legally bound by the provision” of the Post Office Act to see that “best care is bestowed on mails”.

“It makes good business sense to use Speed Post instead of private couriers which are not regulated by any rules or norms unlike department of posts, which is legally bound by the provisions of the Indian Post Office Act 1898 to see that the best care is bestowed on mails,” the letter reads.

The postal department has asked the defence ministry to direct all departments, public sector units and organisations reporting to it to use Speed Post and has assured “cooperation, advice” and customised packages for special requirements. It calls Speed Post unmatched in terms of network and being customer friendly.

Listing the benefits of using the government postal system, the letter says that it has “attractive discounts for high volume customers, free pick up, internet-based tracking, cash on delivery facility and a centralised billing system”.

Incidentally, the central point of the letter comes from a CAG report on communications and the IT sector, dated 2015 when former defence secretary Shashikant Sharma was heading the government auditor.

Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. AFP file

January 1

Pakistan’s government plans to seize control of charities and financial assets linked to Islamist leader and Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who Washington has designated a terrorist, according to officials and documents reviewed by Reuters.

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Pakistan’s civilian government detailed its plans in a secret order to various provincial and federal government departments on December 19, three officials who attended one of several high-level meeting discussing the crackdown told Reuters.

Marked “secret”, a December 19 document from the Finance Ministry directed law enforcement and governments in Pakistan’s five provinces to submit an action plan by December 28 for a “takeover” of Saeed’s two charities, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation.

The United States has labelled JuD and FIF “terrorist fronts” for Lashkar-e-Toiba (“Army of the Pure” or LeT), a group Saeed founded in 1987 and which Washington and India blame for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks and a Pakistani court saw insufficient evidence to convict him. The LeT could not be reached for comment.

The December 19^th document, which refers to “Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issues”, names only Saeed’s two charities and “actions to be taken” against them.

The FATF, which is an international body that combats money laundering and terrorist financing, has warned Pakistan it faces inclusion on a watch list for failing to crack down on financing terrorism.

Asked about a crackdown on JuD and FIF, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who co-chaired one of the meetings on the plan, responded only generally, saying he has ordered authorities “to choke the fundraising of all proscribed outfits in Pakistan”.

In a written reply to Reuters, he also said Pakistan wasn’t taking action under US pressure. “We’re not pleasing anyone.

“We’re working as a responsible nation to fulfil our obligations to our people and international community.” Spokesmen for the JuD and FIF both said they could not comment until they receive official notifications of the government’s plans. “We don’t have any intimation about any crackdown so far,” FIF spokesman Salman Shahid told Reuters. “No one has asked us about our work or assets.” Saeed could not be reached for comment. He has frequently denied having ties to militants and says the charitable organisations he founded and controls have no terrorism ties. He says he promotes an Islamic-oriented government through doing good works.

First major move

If the government follows through with the plan, it would mark the first time Pakistan has made a major move against Saeed’s network, which includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services. The JuD and FIF alone have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers, according to two counter-terrorism officials.

Participants at the meeting raised the possibility that the government’s failure to act against the charities could lead to UN sanctions, one of the three officials said. A UN Security Council team is due to visit Pakistan in late January to review progress against UN-designated “terrorist” groups.

“Any adverse comments or action suggested by the team can have far-reaching implications for Pakistan,” the official said.

The December 19^th document gave few details about how the state would take over Saeed’s charities, pending the plans submitted from the provincial governments. It did say it would involve government entities taking over ambulance services and accounting for other vehicles used by the charities.

It says law enforcement agencies will coordinate with Pakistan’s intelligence agencies to identify the assets of the two charities and examine how they raise money.

The document also directs that the name of JuD’s 200-acre headquarters, Markaz-e-Toiba, near the eastern city of Lahore be changed to something else “to make it known that the Government of “Punjab (province) solely manages and operates the Markaz (headquarters)”.

The move to seize the charities could spark some concern from the powerful military, which has proposed plans to steer Saeed and the JuD into mainstream politics. The military did not respond to a request for comment.

In August, JuD officials formed a new political party, the Milli Muslim League, and backed candidates who fared relatively strongly in two key parliamentary by-elections.

The JuD publicly disavows armed militancy inside Pakistan, but offers vocal support for the cause of rebel fighters in Indian-administered Kashmir and has called for Pakistan to retake Kashmir. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the disputed region.

Washington, which has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to Saeed’s conviction over the Mumbai attacks, warned Islamabad of repercussions after a Pakistani court in late November released him from house arrest.

Punjab’s provincial government had put Saeed under house arrest for 10 months this year for violating anti-terrorism laws. Reuters

Kharga Corps celebrates 46th Raising Day

Ambala, October 6

The Kharga Corps celebrated its 46th Raising Day here in Ambala Cantonment today. With the prospect of war with Pakistan looming ominously, the corps was raised in October 1971 in Krishna Nagar, West Bengal, with an intention to fight in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).Pressed into full-fledged action within months of its raising, the corps proved its mettle in battle, capturing important towns of Khulna, Jessore, Jhenida, Magura, Faridpur and great swathes of territory between the Ganges and Padma rivers. Subsequently, the corps shifted westwards and its headquarters is located in Ambala since 1985.Armed to the teeth with a formidable arsenal, the Kharga Corps is equipped with the most modern tanks, artillery gun system, and variety of mission-oriented arsenals. It is one of the most potent corps of the Indian Army.It is called the Kharga Corps because of its unique formation sign. The day was celebrated solemnly with wreath laying by the Corps Commander on the War Memorial in remembrance of martyrs. —TNS

new heroes: Promoting Deen Dayal Upadhyaya as an icon is part of the President’s brief.

S Nihal Singh

AN attempt to denigrate Jawaharlal Nehru, the maker of modern democratic India, has been put in high gear with the installation of the new President of the ruling BJP’s choice, Mr Ram Nath Kovind. In his inaugural address, he pointedly omitted Nehru in recalling the good and the great of the Independence movement while elevating the Sangh Parivar ideologue, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, to rub shoulders with Mahatma GandhiThe Sangh Parivar’s problem with Nehru is an old one because everything he stood for — a cosmopolitan mind open to ideas and ideals, whatever their source, and a nationalism rooted in secularism — is anathema to the Parivar. That the Congress he led fell short of these ideals is another matter.Starting with the young, the BJP-led government would rather make Nehru a non-person in common with the practice of traditional Communist regimes which made persons not in favour disappear from history’s pages. But since Nehru played such a key role in modern Indian history, the BJP is indoctrinating the very young unfamiliar with the Independence struggle that he did not exist.The Sangh Parivar’s dilemma is that since its own movements played such a peripheral part in the freedom movement with its ambivalent postures towards a free India — the RSS was in the doghouse for a time in newly-independent India — it has no Independence icons. Apart from appropriating Mahatma Gandhi and Sadar Vallabhbhai Patel, the number two to Nehru, among others, it is hoping that the makers of the Parivar’s ideology, such as it is, will serve the purpose of markers in the New India it wants to create.The BJP’s victory in the 2014 general election, thanks largely to RSS cadres and Mr Narendra Modi’s effective campaigning and planning, was for the RSS manna from heaven. It had come to power at the Centre for the first time under its own steam. The leader chosen by the BJP was cradled in the RSS and the road thus opened was too tempting not to move towards realising its dream of a Hindu India.The contours of the RSS ideology as it is shaping up is becoming clearer even if Mr Modi has to trim it at the edges to rule over a diverse country. RSS ideologues start on a defensive note in the face of historical evidence that in recent centuries, India has been ruled by a succession of Muslim rulers, despite stubborn pockets of heroic resistance. Then came the British who ruled over India for two centuries forming their own Indian army and giving what Napolean called toys — titles big and small — to those who would help the imperial power.One lesson the RSS has drawn from this history is to pretend that the Mughal period did not exist. The other was to imbibe a culture of physical fitness employed figuratively by the obligatory morning drill wearing khaki shorts (now changed to trousers) and using staves for guns.The RSS’s second defence mechanism was to create history of a golden age of renaissance in ancient India, with planes flying, operations being performed for head transplants and various forms of modern technology already prevalent in the blessed land of old India.These sentiments underpin the RSS philosophy that India has to teach the world, not learn from it. It follows therefore that the narrow form of nationalism it espouses is the best in the world. And since all these virtues spring from the sagacity and penance of Hindus, they should lay down the law. After all, in their view, all minorities are converts from Hinduism.To rule a country as ethnically and religiously diverse as India on the basis of this foundation of beliefs he largely shares is Mr Modi’s problem. His difficulties mount as cow vigilantes murder and run riot behaving as if the Hindu rashtra had already arrived. No wonder that Muslims in particular are feeling insecure, as retiring Vice-President Hamid Ansari took pains to point out distressing BJP supporters, including his successor.The anti-Nehru campaign gathers force in the meantime. The Nehru memorial is to house representations of all former Prime Ministers. Cultural and social research organisations have acquired pro-BJP heads contributing their might to embellishing the myths of the glories of India.India is not singular in this “retro” movement. US President Donald Trump is one example and two European countries have also shown the way. Hungary under the leadership of Mr Viktor Orban is a believer in an “illiberal democracy”. Poland with its new conservative party in power is making short work of its impartial judicial system. They are both members of the EU, which is seeking to discipline them, to little effect thus far.In India, preparations for the 2019 election will decide the pace at which the Hindutva movement will spread. The BJP’s singular fixation is to win the remaining states. Witness the extraordinary step by Mr Modi in seeking to bring Tamil Nadu’s two AIADMK factions together even as rival Sasikala is cocking a snook at the process from her Karnataka jail cell. Mr Nitish Kumar is already in the net at the expense of the Bihar grand coalition and is now being asked formally to join the National Democratic Alliance.The Sangh Parivar believes that the momentum is with it as the date for the next general election approaches. Removing Nehru from the pedestal he rightly occupies as the key maker of modern India has to be demolished, BJP president Amit Shah recently damning him for borrowing Western ideas. The danger for the BJP is that Nehru’s legacy still lives and is part of national consciousness.The stance of President Kovind in prioritising Sangh Parivar philosophy, despite his disavowal of party loyalties, will be determined by his future moves. Promoting Deen Dayal Upadhyaya as a national icon is in his brief. If the Sangh Parivar is allergic to Nehru, he should not lend his voice to a partisan agenda.

Respected Veterans,

Jai Hind.

Please find ATTACHED, an Open Letter addressed to the Hon’ble PM, signed by the following six Military Veterans.

Ø    Major General Shyamal Ghosh.

Ø    Captain S. Prabhala I.N.

Ø    Admiral L. Ramdas

Ø    Vice Admiral I.C. Rao

Ø    Brigadier Amardeep Singh

Ø    Major General S.G. Vombatkere

The letter expresses dismay at the recent acts of intimidation and violence by certain ideologues creating a climate of fear and suspicion while the State looks away.

We, veterans of the Armed Forces, are inheritors of a glorious tradition of esprit de corps among persons of different backgrounds, be it of religion, caste or language. It is therefore incumbent on us to speak up for the democratic and secular values enshrined in our Constitution. To remain silent would be a disservice to our cherished values.

If you agree with the sentiments expressed in the Open Letter, kindly send an email to <constitutional.dharma@gmail.com>saying “I agree. Please include me as a signatory”. While doing so, please give your rank at the time of retirement and your full name.

In addition, after deleting my e-mail ID, I request you to forward this covering note and the ATTACHED Open Letter to your veteran friends and colleagues to gather more support for the cause. Our intention is to give wide publicity to the Appeal after a reasonable number have signed in. For the present, therefore, kindly do not circulate this outside of the veterans community.

Col SS Rajan

Bangalore, 9449043770

click to open pdf file below

VETERANS’ OPEN LETTER